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1st Quarter 2010
Hi
Twirly Birds,
With
heavy heart, I send the following
press release from Columbia Helicopters,
dated
December 24, 2009:
Wes
Lematta pioneered the concept of
commercial heavy-lift helicopter operations, developing techniques and
processes that are industry standards
to this
day. He provided significant contributions to the helicopter industry
as a
whole, as well as within the state of Oregon. He also leaves behind
significant
philanthropic contributions throughout Oregon and Washington. Wes
Lematta began Columbia Helicopters in
1957 with a single, small
helicopter with which he sold rides
at county fairs and from corner lots on
weekends. Throughout 52 years of business, his pioneering vision and innate
business sense helped him to build his company to
where, today, Columbia
Helicopters is the world-leader
in commercial heavy-lift helicopter
operations. Initially, his
company was run by Wes and his brothers,
and
currently employs over 600 people world-wide. All
Twirly Birds will remember Wes'
voluntary support of the Twirly Birds.
For
many years Wes picked up all the T-Bird expense at our annual meetings.
We also remember that Wes was a recipient of
the coveted Twirly Bird Les Morris Award
in 2009. In
the 4th Quarter 2009
newsletter I told you that we had concluded an arrangement
with the U. of Texas at Dallas for a Twirly Bird section in the library
at the
Richardson campus. Paul Oelkrug, Curator of Special Collections, will
give a
short presentation at our annual meeting in Houston and
will be available after the formal meeting to answer
any questions any of the
attendees may have. The next letter
will give the summary of Paul's presentation
and the question and answer session so that all Twirly Birds will
know how to donate your helicopter memorabilia for
preservation for future
generations of helicopter students, researchers, and your
descendants. Most important to
remember—
donations to the U. of
Texas at Dallas will assure
that your
helicopter memories and memorabilia do not end up in the city dump after you have gone "West". Recently
was in receipt of an article from
VERTICAL magazine, authored by our very own Twirly Bird, Bob Petite,
about
pioneering helicopters
in Alaska. I have received
permission from Mike Reyno of VERTICAL
magazine to include excerpts from
the article, which features many
Twirly Bird
pioneers. Think you will find it interesting—as
follows: During
the war, the U.S. Army Air Force
(USAAF) as very interested in determining
how these early helicopters would perform in winter
conditions. Alaska Territory was
the ideal
area for introducing helicopters to the cold climate of the far north. At the start
of the testing, the outside
temperature was 20 degrees F. They found they had to remove the oil and
battery
from the machines each
evening to
keep them warm as well as preheating the engine and transmission each morning.
Overall, the USAAF was very satisfied with the many flights and
appropriately
the Sikorsky YR-4B became known as the "Arctic Jitterbug,"
with name painted on the fuselage. In
1945 the USAAF decided to try a light
helicopter for service testing, so in March 1946 a contract with Bell
Aircraft
Corporation in Buffalo,
N.Y. for 28 model 47A/YR-13
two-place helicopters. The evaluation
in cold-weather conditions was
satisfactory and Sikorsky R-5/H-5 and
Bell 47 helicopters became common-place in Alaska
carrying our search and rescue missions. The
first commercial Alaskan air operation commenced on June 20, 1948.
Two Bell 47 B's were shipped from Boeing Field in Seattle to Juneau,
Alaska via
a Pan Am DC-4 transport. The aircraft were a cabin model,
serial number 11
(NC-11H), and a modified bubble-enclosed model NC-107B, serial number 27. Chief pilot
Tom Hall flew NC-11H, with his
mechanic, Stan Hellwick. Pilot Carl Brady flew NC-107-B with his mechanic,
Joe Beebe, an ex-Bell Aircraft employee in charge of helicopter maintenance. Brady made over 260
mountain
landings, flying close to 142 hours on
NC-107 B in the mountains southeast of Fairbanks. He had two forced
landings due to fan belts breaking, but his helicopter made it through the summer in one piece. Brady
returned to Alaska in 1949 with his own company,
Economy Pest Control (which became Economy Helicopters and then ERA
Helicopters) using Bell 47-Ds on mapping survey work. More competition arrived.
Stewart Sales out of Indianapolis, Indiana Had two Bell 47Ds on geological
survey work, while Alaska Airlines started a helicopter division with
two Bell
47Bs and one Bell 47D under the supervision of experienced rotary
wing pilot Lou Leavitt. (Leavitt was the first licensed rotary-wing pilot
in the U.S., having flown with the Platt-LePage Aircraft Co. and Piasecki
Helicopter Corp. and had given Frank Piasecki his first ride in an autogiro
in 1936). By
the 1950's, more operators headed north, including Armstrong-Flint,
Allied
Helicopter Service, Kern Copters, RotorAids, and Rick Helicopters.
James Ricklefs, who had previously flown an experimental helicopter
with the Landgraf Helicopter Company, was the founder of Rick Helicopters.
He started in May 1948 with two Bell 48Bs once owned by Helicopter Air
Transport in Pennsylvania. Ricklefs new company started carrying
out charter work and agricultural dusting in the farmlands of Southern
California, then, said Ricklefs, "I embarked upon the stormy sea of helicopter
charter operations." He obtained his first Army survey-mapping contract
in Alaska in 1950, By
its third year of operations, Rick Helicopters was
finally "in the black" financially, so in Sept. 1951, Ricklefs
purchased
the helicopter division of Alaska Airlines and its three Bell 47s,
setting up
Alaska Helicopters in Anchorage. A year later, in August 1952, Ricklefs
bought
out U.S.
Helicopters in San Francisco, CA. Soon, his fleet of
Bells increased from
two to twenty-two, with over half his
business coming from mapping survey
work in Alaska. For a time, Rick
Helicopters was the largest commercial
helicopter company in the
world. When asked about his company's efforts in Alaska, said Ricklefs:
"We have helped map some 250,000
square miles of uncharted country,
mostly in Alaska. On this mapping
work, we did 25,000 hours of
flying, carried 13,000passengers, and moved
passengers and freight from
one point to another. Our 1954 mapping survey in Alaska consisted of
some 5,000
hours without a major accident" It's
thanks to such pioneering helicopter
operations in the wilds of Alaska
that the
sizable rotary-wing industry in the Arctic northwest flourishes
today. At
this time, I would like you all to get
out your calendars and mark down
this important
information. The 2010 Twirly Bird reception and meeting will be held at
the Hilton
Americas Hotel in Houston, Texas, on Sunday, February
21, 2010, from 5:00-7:30 PM. The rooms currently assigned are The
Ballroom of the Americas "A" on the 2nd
floor. Check with the concierge
upon your arrival to be sure the
Twirly Bird rooms are as presently
assigned by HAI. In
checking the recent mailings and the
letters returned because of unknown
change of
address, etc., I am listing the returns in hope that some of
you out there may be able to tell me the current
addresses. NAME
OLD
ADDRESS (UNABLE TO FORWARD) Frank
Peterson
1478
Brookmill Rd.; Los Altos, CA Chuck
Dupont
P.O.
Box 64; Camp Nelson, CA Jim
Granquist
8135
Round Hills; Las Vegas, NV Raymond
Johnson 732
Albion St.; San Diego, CA Keith
Wilson
118
Meadow Dr.; Americus, GA William
Zins
176
Stoner Dr.; West Hartford, CT Frank
Hoover
4062
Drifting Sand; Destin, FL Really
hate to lose contact with any Twirly
Bird, so please, if anybody knows
any of the
above folks, we would appreciate your contacting me so I can
keep them on the roster. AND—PLEASE,
if you have an
address change,
let us know ASAP so we don't lose contact with you. My
tight-fisted Treasurer, Bill Yarber, is
on my case again to remind you
that it is a new
year and the whopping $10.00 annual dues are due again. So please sit
down and
write a check to the Twirly Birds for the depression-price of only
$10.00;
however, if you are so inclined, there is no penalty for exceeding that
amount
by whatever your heart and your conscience dictate. We do look forward
and
appreciate your support. Which
reminds me, in the last letter I
thanked all the heavy-hitter donors we have been blessed with in the
past, and
I said that my steel-trap mind is getting somewhat rusty, and that I
probably
missed somebody. WELL—I
did! I humbly ask forgiveness from our
old friend and most generous
contributor, Mel O'Reilly, of Calgary, Alberta, CANADA and also one
of our oldest
pioneer helicopter pilots, (having soloed in 1945) Stefan Cavallo
of New York City,
NY. A round of applause and a TIP of the ROTOR
to these generous Twirly Birds.
Sincerely
yours, Jim
Hamilton, Fearless Leader  P.S.
Bring dues with you to Houston, if you cannot
attend, please send to: Bill
Yarber, 5129 Mustang Trail, Piano, TX
75093. P.P.S.
My e-mail address is: jimchris@gvtc.com |
